Page 59 of Striking Range

Should I suggest it? Should I tell him that fucking me would distract him and relieve tension? I’ve always been forward; I’m pretty sure I’ve been the driving force every time we’ve done something intimate at this point.

“We could—”

The sound of Everett’s phone cuts me off; it buzzes once, then twice. He makes no move to check it, so I grab it for him, and he doesn’t even register the movement.

He’s perpetually lost in whatever thoughts are plaguing him.

Ashley

I’d love to! What time?

Ashley

I’ll wear that dress you like (;

If I was worried about my ridiculously fast heartbeat moments ago, I have nothing to fear now—it does a full fucking stop. Sure, only for a moment or two, but even that is enough to kill a man.

Ashley—that’s that blonde from the bar, isn’t it? The one who was making out with Everett, her hand squeezing his dick through his jeans?

I stare at Everett out of the corner of my eye, taking in his vacant expression. “You have two texts from Ashley.”

He nods absentmindedly and says nothing.

“Everett?” I push.

“Hm?”

I have no right to be jealous; I know this. And even if I am, which I am—although I’m not one hundred percent sure if it’s for completely lustful reasons or not—we’re not exclusive. He can see her all he wants.

But personally, I don’t want to sleep with someone who is sleeping around. It’s not safe; it’s not right. Not to me.

I kind of feel like throwing up right now. I kind of feel like crying.

I’d turn Jacob down if Everett would stop seeing Ashley—even if we aren’t necessarily together. Would he want that? He might.

Everett cares for me.

“I don’t want to keep doing this together if we’re seeing other people,” I tell him, my voice confident even as the inside of me is a jumbled mess of butterflies.

Slowly, resembling a cute baby fawn caught in a deadly car crash, Everett’s head lifts, and his eyes find mine.

“Together?” he mutters.

“Yeah. Like… what we did yesterday. I know we both liked it, but if we want to keep doing it—to keep this thing going—I think we should stop seeing other people.”

It’s not an unreasonable request, yet I can see it as his breathing deepens, as it picks up. He’s panicking, eyes darting around the room before finding mine again, drawing his knees to his chest as if he can disappear just by making himself small enough.

He winces as his arms wrap around his knees.

For the first time in so long, Everett looks like a child. And he’s terrified.

“You…” he starts. “You think we have a thing?”

My brow furrows, stray curls falling into my eyes as I tilt my head at him. Someone on the TV is laughing.

“Yes? I mean, what we’re doing isn’t exactly normal for us. I’d say it’s a thing.”

He takes an unsteady breath. “Skylar, there is nothing between us.”